Not for those with a weak heart, what do i do now????? Medical emergency ;)

[Everlong]

So everything was going well, me and my daughter we left last week on wed and came home today. My parents were feeding my 4 hens and one roo. they said yesterday they saw one of them in the corner sitting for the whole day-they thought it was sick or something. Today when they went to feed them, they noticed it was missing feathers from its head and was all bloody.
They got her out, and put some polysporin on the bloody parts of the head/neck.
They quail was barely moving and was falling over, they separated her and gave food and water, and it seems like she is doing better. My only concern is, both of her eyes are shut and she "cant" open them or something. when I look at her it looks like she is trying to blink.

Here are the pics, need help to know what to do with her. Eating the bird is out of the question.

 

[robdog]

Try to open them yourself and if you can try eyedrops in her eyes.

 

[Everlong]

should I wet them? maybe they are stuck together because of the blood?

 

[pkhunter]

If you leave her by herself she will probably heal up in 4 or 5 days. I've had some that I thought the eyes were gone but they healed up ok . What you need to do is find the one that is aggressive and get rid of it. How big is the cage? They might need more space if it's to little.

 

[Del1977]

We've had similar attacks and sometimes there is swelling around the eyes stopping them from being able to open. I would give her another day or two and then perhaps try to open them by using eye drops or warm salty water.

Have just put a hen back into the flock today who we had to separate due to same issue. Male immediately started mounting her and pulling at her new head feathers. Took him out of the cage for a few minutes and put him back in and he seems to have calmed a bit, but thinking of putting him in isolation for the night as it won't take much for her freshly healed head to start bleeding again. For some reason he seems rather 'energetic' lately despite being the middle of winter here. Have even put some eggs into the bator to check fertility! Candled a pale one at day 6 and definitely developing!

 

[Everlong]

How long for the feathers to start coming back?

 

[rebrascora]

I would very gently bath it's eyes with dilute saline solution and a cotton bud (Q-tip) and it's really important to ensure that it is eating and even more so, drinking.... electrolytes and vitamins in the water would help and make any food mushy with water or yoghurt so that there is no risk of impaction/dehydration. If it can't see it will have difficulty finding food and water.

My guess would be that this is rooster damage. Adolescent roosters are pretty aggressive and become sexually mature before pullets are ready for their advances, leading to a lot of harassment and stress for the pullets let alone the physical damage this chick has sustained. If you really want to keep a rooster, then I would suggest making him his own quarters next to the girls until they are old enough and ready to accept his advances.

Good luck with her.

Barbara.

 

[Everlong]

Hey guys, an update.
She is doing well, she is eating, she is drinking, she has one of the eyes partialy open. So today I showed her the "ball" water bottle and she started pecking at it, but was off about an inch until she finally "got it" after a while. She eats crumbs off the bottom of the tote. One of her eyes is still closed. We "water it" and put polysporin on it. She seams to be doing just fine. Sometimes she walks backwards.

She will stay in her new box for a while, and will be reintroduced to my cage. If that f@#$@#$@@ rooster will pull anything off, I'LL EAT HIM!!! lol

Few questions,

"Adolescent roosters are pretty aggressive and become sexually mature before pullets are ready for their advances
"

Are you saying this will end one day? when they mature? the females or males? What is pullets?

When will the feathers grow back?

She stopped laying, which is not what I am really concerned about, her safety is first. When will she restart?

I got a white egg recently, could it have been her?


I don't think the size of my cage/page is a problem. I have 4 hens and one roo.

 

[Everlong]

well, I don't think the pic pos tworked

 

[Everlong]

I would very gently bath it's eyes with dilute saline solution and a cotton bud (Q-tip) and it's really important to ensure that it is eating and even more so, drinking.... electrolytes and vitamins in the water would help and make any food mushy with water or yoghurt so that there is no risk of impaction/dehydration. If it can't see it will have difficulty finding food and water.

My guess would be that this is rooster damage. Adolescent roosters are pretty aggressive and become sexually mature before pullets are ready for their advances, leading to a lot of harassment and stress for the pullets let alone the physical damage this chick has sustained. If you really want to keep a rooster, then I would suggest making him his own quarters next to the girls until they are old enough and ready to accept his advances.

Good luck with her.

Barbara yB

By the way Barbara, THANK YOU for the post!!!!!